In this issue of Australian Tree Crop, we talk to John Deere Australia and New Zealand small ag and turf marketing manager Erin Wagstaff about some of her company’s products and technology which can help Australian tree crop growers.

Erin, can you tell us about Smart Apply, what it is and how it works?

The Smart Apply Intelligent Spray System is a LiDAR-based sprayer system that is retrofittable to almost any orchard air blast sprayer.

So it’s not so much a full sprayer you’d buy from John Deere but it’s a kit you can fit to your pre-existing sprayer or any new sprayer you’re buying.

The way it works is that it has a LiDAR sensor mounted on the front of the sprayer that is detecting foliage, both the presence of it and its density.

As you move between your rows and trees it detects that foliage and will trigger the solenoids on the sprayer nozzles to release spray.

So, the whole idea is that you’re only applying chemical where there is foliage.

The key benefits for our customers are far less chemical usage and reduced airborne drift because you’re not spraying in those gaps between the trees or above the trees.

A lot of customers are concerned about drift because they don’t want chemical or spray from their own property drifting over to a neighbour’s property.

Airborne drift is also wasted chemical; chemical which you’ve paid for and is now floating off into the atmosphere.

What kind of savings are you seeing in the field in real-world conditions?

In terms of water and chemical, we’re seeing up to 73 per cent.

That would be in an ideal scenario and in quite young trees although as those trees get more mature we see that come back a bit.

It also depends on your sprayer configuration.

Some of our vineyard customers are using an over-the-row sprayer, which is a lot more targeted on areas of foliage but still seeing some quite significant chemical reductions of more than 40 per cent.

In terms of airborne drift, they’re looking at around 87 per cent reduction there as well.

In addition, some of our vineyard customers have found by being very targeted with their sprayer and getting better coverage they didn’t have to spray as often, so there is not just a water and chemical saving, there is also a fuel and labour saving.

How does it work with farm management software?

Smart Apply has its own platform, but that is also linked with John Deere Operations Center.

The Smart Apply data comes in a 3D data form, so it’ll also provide you with additional data like tree count, tree density, volume of foliage, and so on.

In Ops Center you can also see your spray data and get it combined with machine statistics as well such as where a vehicle is at what time, and how many hours it’s been running.

Does it provide documentation?

You will have a digital record of every spray event.

The documentation will come in a form of a map based on plant density and you will see where the highest chemical output was across a field, and you’ll have a report sheet showing things such as the number of litres applied per hectare.

This is an important feature for many customers because food traceability and having a copy of those records is becoming increasingly important and more consumers and jurisdictions are demanding a deeper understanding of food production.

For example, to get into certain export markets, growers do need to provide full documentation of when it was sprayed, what it was sprayed with and how much spray was applied, particularly in European markets.

Does Smart Apply work with your semi-autonomous sprayer, GUSS?

Yes, we entered into a joint venture with Global Unmanned Spray System, or GUSS, a couple of years ago and Smart Apply can be fitted from factory if you’re ordering a new GUSS unit or retrofitted if you have current GUSS units in your fleet.

The benefit of having Smart Apply on GUSS is you have a semi-autonomous machine, or a fleet of them, and they’re spraying to the best possible efficiency.

With GUSS a single person can monitor up to eight machines and then with a Smart Apply fitted to that you’re saving on labour, chemical and water.

What other products would be valuable for readers of Australian Tree Crop magazine?

I think the 5ML is a pivotal product.

We released it two years ago and more than 100 units are on the ground in Australia.

We really did design them with our tree nut and orchard customers in mind.

It has a very low-profile cab, but it can be fitted with additional extras such as limb lifters to make sure you’re protecting your trees.

We offer different axle configurations so it can be customised to the width of your application.

It also has some great hydraulic pressure at 117 litres per minute, so really capable for a lot of orchard tasks, like spraying or harvesting.

Looking forward, what technology is coming to this sector?

A couple of years ago, John Deere very publicly shared a vision that we wanted to have an autonomous battery-electric solution for this market.

We’ve made some fantastic progress in that development, and we are looking forward to having these solutions in market in the next couple of years.

You might have seen at the Consumer Electronics Show in the US we will also offer a performance upgrade autonomy kit for 5ML.

So, any of our customers in Australia or New Zealand who have bought a 5ML in the last couple of years will be able to retrofit an autonomy kit.

We encourage those customers to start looking at their digital journey by utilising Operations Center, the Equipment Mobile app, and trying to kit out their future tractors with displays and receivers to really get on board with that path that we’re embarking on in horticulture.